Ventilating spacer and method



May 19, 1954 s. P. CRANE ETAL VENTILATING SPACER AND METHOD Filed Sept.14, 1960 lFIGI INVENTORS SAMUEL P. CRANE` STEPHEN D. KENT ATTORNEYUnited States Patent O 3,133,852 VENTILATING SPACER AND METHOD Samuel1P. Crane, Great Neck, and Stephen D. Kent, Newburgh, NX., assigner-s toAlpha Research Corp., New York, NX., a corporation of New York FiledSept. 14, 1960, Ser. No. 55,998 5 Claims. (Cl. 161-47) This inventionrelates to Ventilating seat spacers and particularly to the structureand manufacture of that type in which upright coils are arranged in rowsto form an inner unit and the unit is covered with foraminous material.

In our copending application Serial No. 744,830, now Iatent No.2,954,076, is disclosed a spacer wherein the bearing area at the surfaceagainst which the body of the user is pressed, is enlarged by plasticextensions for comfort. This is done by dipping parts of the coils intoa viscous plastic to coat said parts with an excess of plastic and toform a gob, and then attening and spreading the gob to form extensionsof the coating, which extensions are largely of haphazard orindeterminate outline. The edge portions of the covers for the unit areusually enclosed in and stitched to binding tape.

Instead of merely flattening and spreading the excess plastic of thecoating or adding a preformed sheet to flattened extensions ofindeterminate outline as contemplated by said application, the presentinvention is directed to the control of the shapes, sizes, colors andarrangements of those elements of the cover which become coalesced withthe coil coatings and with each other, the invention being also directedto control of the shapes, sizes and arrangement of the openings betweenthe elements of the cover, so as to make it possible to dispensecompletely with the usual separate foraminous cover for the rows ofcoils, as well as with the usual edge binding, thereby to form a newkind of plastic cover molded in situ and optionally having imperforatebearing areas of predetermined designs, sizes and colors integrallyjoined to perforated areas or netting of any pattern in an almostunlimited range and completely controlled as to the majorcharacteristics thereof.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a Ventilating spacerof pleasing appearance in which the coiled inner unit is adhesivelysecured by the coating formation thereon to an integral plastic topcover molded with perforations therethrough of predetermined shapes,sizes and arrangement to form a net-like decorative sheet with orwithout imperforate areas also of predetermined shapes, sizes andarrangement, the cover thereby maintaining the coils of the unit againstrelative displacement and increasing the bearing area of the spacer toany desired extent at the places Where the greater part of the load isconcentrated, while providing suiiicient perforations for adequateventilation where such ventilation is most needed, and preferably havingopen side and end edges for increased ventilation.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a method for makingthe spacer including the steps of partially coating the coils withplastic, inserting plastic in a mold of the desired net-forming patternand resting the coil unit on the surface of the mold before the coatedplastic or the molded plastic has set so as to weld or integrally joinor cause to coalesce the coating and the molded plastic at the pointswhere they come into contact, whereby the molded cover is provided withinwardly extending formations embracing the coils.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the descriptionwhich follows and from the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a seat spacer to which the invention hasbeen applied, showing the plastic cover for ice the inner unit molded ina net design having diamond shaped openings, with decorative imperforateareas adjacent those portions subjected to the greatest stress or Wear.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary bottom plan view of a corner of thespacer of FIG. l, showing a form of the unit employing a border wire andborder coils and having parallel spacing rows of coils.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in cross section, of amodified form of the inner unit in which the border wire is omitted, thecoils being shown coated and arranged with the coating in contact withand joined at random to a cover-forming molded plastic member prior tothe removal of the member from the mold cavities.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the spacer in upside downposition as it cornes oif the mold, showing a modilied form of thenet-forming part of the cover and showing the coated parts of the coilsin each row arranged in contact with a line element of the net-likecover.

FIG. 5 is a top plan View of a modified form of the molded cover showingvarious forms, sizes and spacing of perforations in the cover combinedwith an imperforate decorative area in the form of a letter or initial,the inner coil unit being omitted for clarity.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective View of a suggested mold,illustrating some possible variations in the design and arrangement ofthe mold cavities used to form the cover preparatory to the attachmentthereof to the plastic formations on the inner unit.

FIG. 7 is a perspective View of a coated coil before its attachment tothe cover showing the sleeve-like coating encasing the bottoms of thecoils, the thickness of the coating being exaggerated, and showing theincreased flattened bearing area at the tops of the coils opposite thecoating.

It should be noted that the invention may be effectively applied to anypreferably preassernbled unit made of rows of coils, whether such unitincludes a border wire as 10 (FIG. 2) or merely a border coil 11 (FIG.3) to which the ends of the coiled rows as 12 are attached in anysuitable manner, or whether the unit includes both border wire andborder coil, or whether the individual coils are generally circular orflattened, or made of wire or plastic or other suitable material.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the border wire orframe 10 carries the border coil 11. A series of rows 12 of preferablycontinuous coils, are arranged to span the space between opposite sidesof the border frame and may be Wound around said frame or otherwiseattached thereto and to intersecting similar rows in a known manner. Thepreassembled unit including the coils and border can be readilymanipulated for further processing and the flattened plastic extensions14 optionally formed on those parts of the individual coils which laterbecome arranged at the bottom of the spacer shown upside down in FIGS. 3and 7. The extensions have been omitted from FIG. 2 for clarity ofillustration, but they may optionally be formed on the coils by coatingthe coils with excess material and flattening the excess as disclosed insaid Patent No. 2,954,076.

In case such extensions 14 are employed on what are later to be thebottom parts of the coils as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, the coating and theextensions thereof are allowed to set or are set by heat before theassociated plastic cover 15 or 23 on the opposite or top parts of thecoils and soon to be described, is set, to avoid interference with theformation of the spacer.

The cover as 15 (FIGS. 1-3) is preferably molded in Vthe form of a onepiece net having Ventilating perforations 16 therein of any desiredsize, shape and arrangement, and the line elements or intersecting bandsor cosity and setting time. ksetting organisols or rigidsols of theproper consistency strips of the net may even have different colors atdifferent parts hereof. As shown, the perforations are diamond shapedand the line elements or bands 17, 18 f the net are straight andintegrally joined at the respective intersections thereof. At the edgesof the cover, Said line elements merge into a relatively wide strip-likeimperforate annular border 19 forming a frame-like edging. The border ispreferably thickened at its outer periphery to form the reinforcing edgebead 20 which is sufficiently thick, wide and strong to withstand thestresses put upon the spacer. The cover is formed, if desired, withdecorative areas so shaped and proportioned as to strengthen the netwhere wear is concentrated, without materially affecting the Ventilatingproperties of the cover. In FIG. 1 is shown an imperforate moldedannular strip 21 surrounding the central part of the spacer. Such stripmay be superimposed, if desired, on and integrally joined to the netelements or bands 17, 18 to close certain perforations, or the netelements may be omitted at the strip and at similar imperforate areas.In the space enclosed by tne strip 21 are shown decorative strengtheningareas 22 where the greatest pressure is applied to the spacer. As willlater be explained, differently colored plastic may be used for thestrip 21, for the areas 22 and for any or all of the net elements 17, 18to obtain the decorative color effect desired. The desired forms orpatterns or repetitive motif of such areas as well as of the netelements may also be controliedly varied in a wide range.

In FIG, 5, the imperforate area 25 is shown in the form of the letter A,the perforations 26 are relatively small and rectangular within the Aand larger and circular outside of the A merely to indicate some of thevariations possible. The line elements or bands are shown wider in someplaces than in others.

As has been previously mentioned, the net cover is integral with therelatively thin plastic coating 27 on the tops of the coils and iswelded thereto or allowed to coalesce therewith while the coating andthe cover are in a relatively thick viscous state to provide inwardlyextending formations on the cover. In FIG. 4, the pattern selected forthe net 28 and the spacing and arrangernent of the rows 12 are such thatthe plastic coating or formations 27 on each coil of each row is tangentto one of the parallel net lines or elements 29 to attain the maximumnumber of spaced points of contact between the coating formations on thecoils and the net. The net elements 30 are shown perpendicular to theelements 29 to form substantially square perforations 31. In FIG. 2however, the various coating formations make contact at random with thenet lines, there being no predetermined relation between the controlledmolded pattern of the net elements and the arrangement of the rows orpitch of the coils thereof. However, it should now be clear that bydetermining and employing such definite relation and pitch, the coilsmay be concealed more or less and maximum areas of adhesion of the coilsto the cover attained as well as the greatest number of coil-embracingformations projecting inwardly from the cover.

While it is possible to preform a complete cover 15 in various ways asby injection molding, die forming, casting or other known methods andlater to attach the thus formed and set cover to the coils, it ispreferred to mold the cover in a suitable mold as (FIG. 3) or 36 (FIG.6) or the like and to utilize the coating 27 to secure and hold the rowsand the cover against relative or displacing movement.

The coating 27 is formed by dipping the outermost ,parts of the rows 12of coils or of the unit into a viscous plastic of the flexible type suchas vinyl plastisols, in which the plasticizer controls the consistencyor vis- Hot melts or relatively quick may be employed if desired for thecoating and the cover,

4: it being desirable that the setting time be relatively short andcontrollable, that the material be liquid or semiliquid at reasonablecoating temperatures, and that the plastic be not brittle were set.

The depth of the dip is shallow and just beyond the diameter of the coilmaterial so that the lowermost parts of the coils, which are laterreversed, and become the uppermost parts, are just covered and little orno excess plastic adheres to the coils. As shown in FIG. 3, the thuscoated rows of coils are then placed on the top surface of a mold as 35,the cavities of which have been previously filled with plastic,preferably of the same type as the coating 27, which plastic has notset, the uppermost surface 37 of the mold having been cleared and freedof plastic. Wherever the coating cornes into contact with the plastic ina mold cavity, that is, wherever the coating and cover are tangent toeach other, the coating merges, welds or coalesces with the plastic inthe mold and becomes integral therewith. Consequently, when the coatingand molded cover become set, the spacer is finished. By moving the unitfrom the mold, the adhered cover 15 is also removed with the coils. T omake such removal easy, the surfaces of the mold including those of thecavities, may be coated with a material to which the plastic does notadhere well, such as wax, oil, grease or a silicone or other film.

The coating Z7 may be of any desired color, but a color not in contrastwith those selected for the cover 15 is preferred in order to render thecoils as inconspicuous as possible. However, the plastic supplied to themold to form the cover may be of different colors at different placesfor decorative purposes. Each colored plastic is applied to theappropriate part of the mold in a layer thick enough to fill theselected cavities, as by means of rollers, brushes or other suitableapplying tools. The uppermost surface of the mold inevitably becomescoated with some plastic during such operation. For example, the edgebead-forming cavity 41 may be filled with plastic colored red, theborder strip cavity 42 with blue plastic, the net element cavity 43 withplastic of a third color, the perpendicular net element cavities 44 witha fourth colored plastic and the imperforate strip forming cavity 45with a plastic of a fifth color. Any undesired plastic deposited on themold surfaces 40, regardless of its color, is removed as by a suitablescraping tool such as a doctor blade cr squeegee moved across the moldto leave only plastic of the proper colors in the bottom parts of thecavities. Such bottom plastic becomes the outer visible surface of thecover when the thus molded cover is removed together with the coatedunit, from the mold.

It will now be understood that by molding the plastic cover, it can bemade in various decorative designs combining perforated Ventilatingparts with imperforate parts to attain added strength where suchstrength is needed, to eliminate stitching and edge binding, to createinwardly extending integral formations thereon embracing the coils andthereby maintaining the rows in place, and adequately to attain theobjects of the invention.

While certain specific embodiments of the invention have herein beenshown and described, various obvious changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention defined by the appendedclaims.

We claim:

l. A decorative Ventilating spacer comprising an inner spacing unithaving rows of coils arranged with the axes of the coils in a planesubstantially parallel to the general plane of a face of the spacer,decorative molded plastic cover and coil connecting material for thetops of said coils, molded in a predetermined pattern,

the pattern comprising spaced apart strip-like band elements, eachelement have smooth side edges and a flat under surface substantiallycoplanar with the tops of the coils,

plastic means for securing lthe elements tangentially to arcuate lengthsof the top por-tions of the coils only at each of those points where anelement meets a Itop of a coil,

the remaining parts of the elements being free of the coils, said meanscomprising a sleeve-like plastic coating on each of said arcuatelengths, the bearing area of the spacer comprising said elementstogether with auxiliary bearing points at the places where the coatedcoil tops are free of the elements and are arranged at the spacesbetween elements and ybelow the upper surface of the elements. 2. Thedecorative spacer of claim 1, the pattern further comprising areas ofcontrolled predetermined decorative configuration. 3. The decorativespacer of claim 1, at least one of the elements of the pattern being ingenerally annular form.

4. A decorative Ventilating spacer comprising an inner spacing unithaving rows of coils arranged with the axes of the coils in a planesubstantially parallel to ythe general plane of a face of the spacer, adecorative plastic cover for and secured to the tops of said coils andhaving and being adapted to be molded with a predetermined inherentnet-like mesh pattern therein,

the pattern comprising spaced apart perforations,

each having a regular perimeter of predetermined shape and size, and twosets of strip-like band elements, the elements of one set intersectingthe elements of the other set and bounding the perforations, the coverhaving a substantially flat under surface substantially coplanar withthe tops of the coils and having an irregular top bearing surface spacedlaterally from the under ilat surface different distances at differentselected areas thereof to provide diiierent thicknesses in the cover atthe respective selected areas, and plastic means for securing the moldedplastic cover tangentially to arcuate lengths of the top portions of thecoils, said means comprising a sleeve-like plastic coating on each ofsaid arcuate lengths having substantially line contact with saidelements, said coating and cover being of material adapted to coalescewhile in a plastic state and when brought into tangential contact witheach other, the unit having auxiliary bearing points where the coatedtops of the coils are arranged under the perforations. 5. The method ofmaking a decorative Ventilating spacer comprising inserting a firstplastic material in a plastic state into a mold having continuouschannel-like cavities therein between raised portions, wiping from olfthe rised portions of the mold any surplus plastic material thereon,bringing into contact with the first plastic material coils with secondplastic material thereon while at least one of said first and secondplastic materials is in a soft moldable adhesive condition, andmaintaining said firs-t and second plastic materials -in Contact for asuiicient time to fuse together and set said materials.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A DECORATIVE VENTILATING SPACER COMPRISING AN INNER SPACING UNITHAVING ROWS OF COILS ARRANGED WITH THE AXES OF THE COILS INA PLANESUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE GENERAL PLANE OF A FACE OF THE SPACER,DECORATIVE MOLDED PLASTIC COVER AND COIL CONNECTING MATERIALFOR THE TOPSOF SAID COILS, MOLDED IN A PREDETERMINED PATTERN, THE PATTERN COMPRISINGSPACED APART STRIP-LIKE BANK ELEMENTS, EACH ELEMENT HAVE SMOOTH SIDEEDGES AND A FLAT UNDER SURFACE SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR WITH THE TOPS OFTHE COILS, PLASTIC MEANS FOR SECURING THE ELEMENTS TANGENTIALLY TOARCUATE LENGTHS OF THE TOP PORTIONS OF THE COILS ONLY AT EACH OF THOSEPOINTS WHERE AN ELEMENT MEETS A TOP OF A COIL,